The following is a special contribution to this blog by Karsten Steinhaeuser, a Research Associate in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota involved with a National Science Foundation Expeditions in Computing on Understanding Climate Change: A Data Driven Approach and the Planetary Skin Institute. Karsten describes the Expeditions effort here. Climate change is a defining environmental challenge facing our planet as rising temperatures, increased severity and frequency of extreme events, and transformation of the global ecosystems are placing unprecedented stress on society, natural resources and man-made infrastructure. A team of researchers led by Vipin Kumar at the University of Minnesota is exploring ways in which computer scientists can help answer […]

From msnbc.com’s Cosmic Log: Video-game players have solved a molecular puzzle that stumped scientists for years, and those scientists say the accomplishment could point the way to crowdsourced cures for AIDS and other diseases.   “This is one small piece of the puzzle in being able to help with AIDS,” Firas Khatib, a biochemist at the University of Washington, told me. Khatib is the lead author of a research paper on the project, published today by Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.   The feat, which was accomplished using a collaborative online game called Foldit, is also one giant leap for citizen science — a burgeoning field that enlists Internet users to look for alien planets, decipher ancient […]

(This post has been updated; please scroll down for the latest.) Moments ago at the White House, U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra, Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Deputy Director Tom Kalil, Congressman John Yarmouth (D-Ky.), Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and a bright young 11-year-old from New York City launched Digital Promise — a new national center created by Congress and supported with funds from the Department of Education, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation — to advance technologies to transform learning and education. As part of the announcement, National Science Foundation (NSF) Assistant Director for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Farnam Jahanian, […]

As we noted in this space yesterday, the National Science Foundation (NSF) published a special report on disaster research last week, as part of National Preparedness Month and the events surrounding the tenth anniversary of 9/11. The report highlights the fundamental research impacting and enabling policymakers and disaster responders to better predict, prepare for, and respond to significant hazards affecting life, property, societal infrastructure, and natural assets. What’s noteworthy is the critical role for computing research in this space — to include communications systems, rescue robotics, predictive modeling, game theory, etc. For example, at a related showcase of 30 research projects on Capitol Hill last week — attended by members of Congress, Federal agencies, and the media […]

As our nation pauses today to remember and reflect upon this tenth anniversary of 9/11, we recall the heroic efforts of ordinary citizens in the aftermath of that horrific day — as well as the lessons that were learned as a result. From a research standpoint, the National Science Foundation noted in a special report on disaster research published last week: …[Scientists] and engineers quickly joined the response.  Those who were experienced with earthquakes, floods and other natural devastation converged on the World Trade Center site to help.  Some searched for victims or studied how buildings collapsed. Others digitally mapped the disaster site. Still others monitored the coordination of responders from across the […]

(This post has been updated; please scroll down for the latest.) Despite some slight weakening over the last few hours, Hurricane Irene is being called the “storm of a lifetime” — on its current path, it will affect over 65 million people in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S. over the next 72 hours. Packing winds of 100 mph (as of this writing) and ocean waves in excess of 25 feet near its center, Irene looks every bit as ferocious as it sounds — and forecasters are warning of destructive flooding and wind damage. And as those of us on the East coast prepare for the storm, at a cost of millions […]